The CEO of a German satellite manufacturer working on Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system has been sacked after a WikiLeaks cable cited him labelling the project a “stupid idea”.
OHB-System announced on January 17 that it had suspended Berry…
The CEO of a German satellite manufacturer working on Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system has been sacked after a WikiLeaks cable cited him labelling the project a “stupid idea”.
OHB-System announced on January 17 that it had suspended Berry Smutny with “immediate effect” following the comments, which were recorded by diplomats at the US embassy in Berlin on October 2, 2009.
According to the cable, published by Norwegian paper Aftenposten, Smutny said: “I think Galileo is a stupid idea that primarily serves French interests”, because GPS already covers Europe’s position, navigation and timing requirements.
The cable added: “He claimed the EU desire to develop a redundant but alternative to GPS was spearheaded by the French after an incident during the Kosovo Conflict when the US military ‘manipulated’ GPS to support military operations (NFI).
“Since this time, he said France has aggressively corralled EU support to invest in Galileo development – something Smutny said France wants to ensure their missile guidance systems are free of any GPS reliance.” OHB initially dismissed the WikiLeaks revelations, with chairman Manfred Fuchs saying in a press release, on January 13, that the group “expressly repudiates” all the statements attributed to Smutny in the cables. However, mounting pressure from subsequent reports into the revelations soon forced the group to relieve Smutny of his duties.
Fuchs, who is now acting CEO of OHB, told SatelliteFinance: “We didn’t see an alternative to this step. These publications have put immense pressure on us and have caused an enormous damage to the company’s reputation which we had to effectively limit by this decision.” Discussions concerning Smutny’s replacement have only just started, and it is not yet clear how it plans to proceed with the succession plans.
The company insisted the WikiLeaks revelations do not affect plans with OHB to build 14 FOC satellites within the budgetary frame of ?566m.
